The present invention relates generally to improvements in cargo trailers and more specifically to an improved cargo trailer and method for transporting cylindrical containers.
Cylindrical storage containers, such as 55-gallon drums or barrels, are used extensively in industries which must store and transport liquids in relatively substantial quantities for on-site use. The containers typically have two annular ring-like surfaces projecting outwardly from the side walls thereof in generally spaced parallel relation. These annular projections, commonly known as "hoops" in the container industry, allow a container to be positioned on its side for rolling movement thereof. The projecting hoops provide support to space the walls of the container above the ground and thereby reduce the surface contact area, and the rolling resistance, thus enhancing the ability of the container to be rolled by hand.
After the containers are manufactured, they must be transported to the end user where they are filled with material for distribution thereof. Typically, the newly manufactured containers are individually loaded onto conventional transport trailers for transport to the end user. The transport trailers thus utilized typically consist of a generally planar cargo support surface having a box-like cover attached thereto and mounted to a plurality of wheels for rolling movement thereof. The box-like cover typically consists of a plurality of planar wall members which are supported internally by a plurality of vertically oriented support members arranged around the periphery of the cargo support surface in generally spaced parallel relation.
These conventional cargo trailers are often constructed for transporting goods of no particular type and generally consist of no more than a cargo box on wheels. Accordingly, if the containers are transported in such a conventional trailer, there is usually a spacing between the containers and the side walls, and the containers can collide with the walls of the trailer and with each other, which can damage either the container or the trailer, or both. Further, the movement of the trailer along a highway tends to cause the containers to vibrate and rotate which can cause scraping of the containers against one another and thereby cause degradation of the surface appearance of the newly manufactured containers, and the containers can eventually rub holes in the side walls of the cargo trailer.